When do you know a manuscript is dead? When do you stop revising and put it away? Or do you keep them all alive? What's your take on that?
Me? I guess I kind of believe a manuscript is never dead. I know I'm a much better writer now than when I started, but I think I could revise anything I've written and bring it up to my current standards.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Writer Question
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Hmmm, I think I agree with you. It might be in a coma for awhile, but I think once a person gets published, if they do well, any manuscript can be resurrected. Or even just by learning the craft, like you said, you can bring an old one up to par.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you. None of my manuscripts are dead - they're just resting until I can get them published. I always hope that maybe the next one will be a foot in the door for the rest. =o)
ReplyDeleteMe, too. I was sorting through old files the other day and ran across the very first contemporary romance I ever wrote. Re-read the opening scene and was struck by how much my voice hasn't changed over seven manuscripts and nearly ten years. The style had changed. I'd learned a LOT, but the voice -- practically the same. So, yes, that manuscript could be resurrected.
ReplyDeleteI'm interested to see all these answers. I have some that are on life support with nothing being done but who knows if I get pubbed I may not pull the plug. There is always that hope there for me and I can never really give them up.
ReplyDeleteI COULD bring them up to where I am, but sometimes the ideas, themselves aren't worth it? If that makes any sense?
ReplyDeleteI think it's really dangerous to try and revise an old manuscript, in the sense that it's such a time suck. It seems like it'll be easier to start with some finished material, but in fact I think it slows you down. Plus, even if you can get it up to your current standards, to me there's always a certain ineffable something that makes it feel stale. I've read books by NYT bestsellers that had never been published, but I KNEW were old, resurrected stories because they felt just that littlest bit out of date.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying it can never ever work, but I think the success stories are few and far between.
I don't think its ever dead, either. For me, it depends on my mood which ms. I work on. But, I always go back to the ones I haven't worked on in forever. They are always waiting. Lol.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. I don't think a manuscript is ever necessarily dead in the water but it could use a strong revival to bring it up to snuff. I would say I put stuff on the backburner versus killing it.
ReplyDeleteThough there is one in particular that is pretty awful...lol.
I think the more I grow, the more I realize how elementary my first efforts were. Sure, I could re-write them, but it'd be a major overhaul
ReplyDeleteI have manuscripts I'll probably never give up on and I have ones that I just know I'll never finish because the story no longer appeals to me. I suppose that's a truly dead one - when the plot just doesn't grab me anymore, I know I can't make it grab anyone else. Time to move on.
ReplyDeleteThe only manuscript that is dead for me is my first. And that's because everything about it stinks, so I might as well start from scratch. LOL!
ReplyDeleteBut I agree with you, you improve the more you write, so I still think there are manuscripts that can be saved. It's a just a matter of wanting to save them or not.
I have some manuscripts that are a three years old, that I will go over again and see if I can fix them. I've learned a lot in just three short years.
ReplyDeleteAnd there are some old-old short stories that got lost when our big computer crashed, and they are best forgotten.